There are a few things in life my husband is passionate about: woodworking, Christ, not touching the computer screen with your finger, and Chicken ‘n Dumplings.

I knew when we got married that he was crazy about them…and that kept me from making them. I was afraid I would bomb it royally and he’d wonder, “why did I marry this sorry excuse for a woman who can’t make dumplings?”

See, my Mama didn’t teach me to make this dish. She doesn’t like it, so she never made it.

I didn’t even eat them for the first time until after Barry and I were married. I’ll be honest – they’re not my favorite.

I’d rather have a hamburger. But, in order to make my man happy, I decided I would learn how to make his favorite dish. [Read more…]

(Note: I forgot to post this before I went on maternity leave..and now it’s autumn – so bear with me. Ha!)

In the summer months, I have a hard time making hot food. I just don’t want to eat it. I want to eat ice cream and pudding…sandwiches and watermelon. I hate heating up the kitchen. This year it’s worse since we’re still saving up for a heat pump – so when I cook, the entire kitchen warms up to a balmy 95 degrees. When you’re 8 months pregnant, that feels more like 150 degrees.

I try to make salads and sandwiches when I can. We survive on them in the summer. I created this delicious salad using veggies I had in the fridge. Yes, you do have to cook it but then you eat it chilled – and since you only use the stovetop, it doesn’t make the kitchen too hot. Nice. [Read more…]

We LOVE baked potatoes in this house…even Annie chows down on them. However, I find that I don’t make them very often. Why? Well, for some reason I just hate heating up the whole oven to make potatoes. I know that’s weird. In the summer, it makes sense to avoid it because of heating up the house, but in the winter I have no excuse.

But then I came across a genius idea…to “bake” potatoes in the crock pot! I’m not sure why I didn’t think of it…we’ll chalk it up to sleep deprivation and Momnesia. But, there were a few problems I was seeing with all the posts out there about crock pot potatoes.

They used aluminum foil. We try not to use aluminum foil much in this house and I really hate it touching my food…so I sure didn’t want to cover my potatoes with it for 8 hours in high heat. You can call me paranoid – as long as you call me for dinner.

If you didn’t use foil, some people reported that the potatoes ended up all brown and grody looking. I’m not sure about you, but there’s something about eating food that looks ugly and gross…I’d be hard pressed to eat a potato that looked like doody – because I see enough doody in my day. [Read more…]

Y’all, I have this awesome friend…Tia. She can COOK. You might remember her from the cheesecake post. She used to own a restaurant…did I mention she can COOK? I’m tickled pink she’s sharing a family crock pot recipe with us today. Make it – you won’t be sorry. With a name like Sweet T – It’s a Way of Life, you know you can’t go wrong.

My MaMa (pronounced MawMaw, don’t ask me why, that’s just how we spelled it) made this recipe often and I loved it. She wrote it down for me on one of those little spiral-topped pocket notebooks that you used to get from the bank. I still have it, written in her handwriting. She passed away 15 years ago, so this recipe is very special to me. [Read more…]

Y’all, I’ve been following the blog Hallee the Homemaker for a long time now. If you like a honest blog, one with good food and good family values, make sure you subscribe to Hallee the Homemaker. I asked Hallee to write a post for y’all and she knew I was working on freezer meals for The Bean, so she’s sharing a GREAT freezer meal with us today…and in case you didn’t know, it’s the family favorite of the Duggars. 🙂

Image by Tasty Planner

I have been reading and participating in homemaking blogs for over three years now, and one thing that a lot of bloggers really enjoy doing is “freezer cooking”. They buy a whole bunch of supplies, and spend a day or two in the kitchen making several meals, freezing the meals, and then they can just pull a meal or pre-prepped ingredients for a meal out of the freezer as needed.

It’s a great idea and one that a lot of people have great success with. However, for me, spending that much time in the kitchen just to save meal prep time just doesn’t appeal to me. I think I really enjoy the art of cooking for my family on a regular basis, and the time it would eventually save me just doesn’t seem worth the time and energy it would take to properly do the freezer cooking.

However, Jill Bond, author of Mega Cooking, has a BRILLIANT method of freezer cooking that doesn’t require two full days in the kitchen. [Read more…]

Today we have Sumptuous Spoonfuls joining us for a FABULOUS seasonal recipe – Marinara Sauce. If you’ve been up to your ears in tomatoes, you’re gonna love this! Crock on, baby!

Hello everyone! I’m Ann from Sumptuous Spoonfuls. Stacy contacted me to ask if I would do a guest post for her…something made in the crock pot. The only things she asked were:

Not a recipe already on the site

Only use whole food ingredients

I thought that’s no sweat! I can totally handle that … Well, time went by and the date she had given me as a deadline came and went and I hadn’t sent her anything. You know how life gets so busy … this guest post completely slipped my mind! So I totally failed on the “submitted a week in advance” part, but I did make a new recipe with whole foods! In fact, just about everything in this recipe is fresh from the garden. The only things I purchased were the garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, brown sugar (or sucanat) and bay leaves. [Read more…]

Today’s Crock Pot post is from The Frugal Chicks.

Crock Pot Spice Rub Chicken

So everyone makes new year’s resolutions, or as I call them goals, every new year. I chose to go Paleo this past January. I did not stick with it, but I am planning to go back to it because I felt so much better. I have MS, and this diet makes you feel so much better – just going gluten free is not the easiest thing in the world. I discovered this recipe during my paleo days.

Not only is it delish and versatile, but it is healthy too! I found this recipe in my Everyday Paleo cookbook by Sarah Fragoso. I have it on my nook, which makes cooking quite easy! My favorite way to eat this dish is on portabella mushrooms as sandwiches. Hope you love it as much as I do!! [Read more…]

Today my friend Lea from Nourishing Treasures is sharing a great side dish with us – baked beans. I think this calls for us all to have a cookout. 🙂

Making my own baked beans has been on my list of things to do for a while now. I think the only canned things I buy now are olives and tuna fish. I don’t know what took me so long, really. But when Elizabeth shared her Barlett Baked Beans recipe with me, I knew I could do it.

Because I can’t leave well enough alone, I did tweak the recipe. Here is mine: [Read more…]

While I’m working on my cookbook and still waiting to get into groove with my kitchen at our new home, I’m tickled to have so many great guest posters on Friday. Today we have a delicious and easy Lamb Curry recipe from my friend Justyn who blogs over at Creative Christian Mama. Thanks Justyn!!

Friday again and another great recipe! Today we welcome Ashley from Spunky Suds with a recipe that will work for company or for a weeknight dinner. Oh, and make sure to check out her soaps – they rock!!

I was searching for a recipe for Chicken Cordon Bleu and much to my disappointment, I found that most recipes called for ingredients such as stove top stuffing and cream of chicken soup. I don’t know about you, but I’m not too keen on feeding my family meals that are full of MSG and ingredients that I can’t even pronounce, (I like to use this rule of thumb—if I can’t pronounce it, I shouldn’t use it—and that goes for food and also for skin care).

I know that I can’t micromanage everything in my life, but there are parts that I can certainly avoid. After much searching, I was finally able to find a recipe that sounded good and used real food for ingredients! I made a few adjustments to mine, and we are happy to add this to one of our special family recipes! [Read more…]

I believe God created you to be the hero of your home. You CAN manage your home instead of it managing you. That’s why I empower women with simple solutions for their homemaking needs – because if it’s not easy, you won’t do it. {Read More…}

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I absolutely love your heartfelt writing. You make me smile, and I appreciate your candor, humor and righteous anger...even when you are mad :) My daughter needs to have you in her life and I am going to forward your site to her.

-Cora

YOU definitely make life better, easier and helpful!! So for all this I am thankful for you!!

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I am also very thankful for your writing!!! I've subscribed to many blogs, but yours is one I actually stop and read as soon as it hits my inbox. I love your authenticity and practical approach...and especially your humor....wish I'd had this 11 years ago when I first embarked on motherhood.

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I'm a longtime reader/follower. I have always appreciated how honest and real your writing is. I like not knowing what you'll write about next, and I like how sometimes you cover several topics in a post. You are funny and practical, and I've learned a lot from you (and Barry, too!) over the years. So, thank you!

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Thank you for putting your experience along with your sparky humor down to these posts! I even started to apply some of your tips into my days. :) I just started homeschool my first born and have three more so life gets busy and list of chores frustrating. So I just wanted to let you know That your posts refreshed one tired and uninspired mommy here in Czech republic!

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Stacy, you are oh-so relatable to me! I love the humor, but I really love the financial inspiration (debt-free since ’14!), the near-daily reminder that there are other children of God out there, and, of course, the food. Following you is a breath of fresh air.

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